Title: Venus in Blue Jeans. Konigsburg, Texas, Book 1
Author: Meg Benjamin
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
A guy. A girl. A Chihuahua. Two of them will find the love of their lives.
Coming off a broken engagement to a lying charmer, all bookstore owner Docia Kent wants is a fling, not a long-term romance. And for her fabulously wealthy and fabulously nosy parents to butt out of her life for a while. The Texas Hill Country town of Konigsburg looks like the perfect place to get both. Especially when she gets a look at long, tall country vet Cal Toleffson.
Cal has other plans for Docia. One glance at this six-foot version of Botticelli’s Venus, and he knows he’s looking at the woman of his dreams. Now if he can just fend off the eccentric characters of Konigsburg long enough to convince her romance isn’t such a bad idea.
One night of mind-blowing sex isn’t the only thing that leaves them both stunned. With Docia’s bookstore under attack, Konigsburg suddenly doesn’t seem so welcoming. Once again she finds her trust tested—and is left wondering if she was ever meant to have a happily ever, after all.
Excerpt:
Cal Toleffson saw the love of his life for the first time at 5:47 p.m. in the Dew Drop Inn, downtown Konigsburg, Texas.
He wasn’t exactly dressed for the event.
He’d spent the forty-five minutes preceding Happy Hour tending to a sick goat. “Tending to” was the polite way of describing it. The goat was large, sturdy and attractive from a goat’s point of view. From a human’s point of view, even a vet like Cal, it smelled like, well, a goat. And so did he, after about ten minutes in the goat’s company.
He’d cleaned up, sort of. Washed his hands and face, dropped the jeans and T-shirt he’d been wearing into his clothes hamper (his housekeeper would probably be asking for a raise by the end of the month), and put on his last clean denim shirt.
His desire for a Dos Equis outweighed his need for a shower. And the Konigsburg male population wasn’t too fastidious anyway. He doubted somebody like Terrell Biedermeier would even notice a little eau d’goat, given Terrell’s personal ripeness.
Terrell, a lump on a barstool, didn’t notice. But Steve Kleinschmidt, also known as “Wonder Dentist” for reasons Cal wasn’t clear on, moved a few inches down the bar after Cal took his seat on the stool beside him.
“Trying to make a point there, Idaho?”
Cal grinned. “Nah, just thirsty. And it’s Iowa.”
“Idaho, Iowa, same thing.” Wonder had spent most of his life in Texas, and he wasn’t interested in moving. “You do realize what you smell like, right, Toleffson?”
“Might be goat, might be sweat. What’s your opinion, Wonder?” Cal rubbed a hand through his beard, scratching. Dried beard sweat was a bitch.
Wonder snorted. “If I had to guess, I’d say bullshit. But then I’m a dentist, not a vet.”
Hank Ingstrom, the bartender and owner of the Dew Drop, pushed a bottle of Spaten in Wonder’s general direction and made a half-hearted sweep at the bar with a grubby rag.
“Dos Equis, Ingstrom.” Cal leaned against the bar, ignoring the slightly sticky surface under his elbow, and scraped his boot sole against the brass rail.
Ingstrom frowned as he headed back down the bar, tucking his rag in his back pocket. “That’d better not be goat crap.”
“See?” Cal grinned at Wonder, nodding in Ingstrom’s direction. “Ingstrom knows his animals.”
“Not surprising. Ingstrom is an animal.” Wonder sucked down a quick swallow of beer, wiping the foam from his upper lip with his index finger.
Cal glanced down the length of the bar. The usual series of gray, lumpish shapes—Konigsburg males, all knocking back brews. He sighed. He’d never figured out why the customers who lined up along the Dew Drop bar were always male, while those at the tables were always female. Made fraternizing that much more difficult.
Not that he’d had much time to fraternize lately, to say nothing of the necessary money. But fraternizing was a definite future goal, what with his currently bleak social life. He needed to start making some moves if he didn’t want to end up just another barstool lump.
Cal turned to survey the room again, checking out prospects. “See anybody interesting?”
Wonder shook his head. “Nobody but locals. Most of the women in here own gift shops.” He shuddered, his slightly concave shoulders pulling at his knit shirt. “Heed my warning, boy. Never date a woman who makes a living selling angel figurines.”
“Nice to know.” Cal went back to checking out the women at the tables, what he could see of them.
Cal squinted. Some of the tables were definitely occupied by women. Or bikers. Sometimes it was hard to tell. Definitely people with long hair.
“Who’s the brunette in the corner booth?” He turned back to Wonder.
Wonder peered into the darkness. “Morgan Barrett. Her father owns Cedar Creek winery.” Nice lady. You want me to introduce you?”
Cal squinted through the gloom again. He considered Wonder’s offer, then sighed. No zing. Zing. Jesus, Toleffson, you are an idiot. “No, thanks,” he mumbled.
Wonder frowned. “Jesus, Toleffson, you are an idiot. That’s the third time you’ve turned down one of my patented introductions.”
Cal took a long pull on his Dos Equis, letting some cool brew slide down his throat. “Thanks for the thought. Why this push to get me matched up with somebody anyway?”
Wonder shrugged. “Enlightened self-interest. I figure if you’re off the market, the town’s female population will once again lower its expectations.”
“The entire female population?” Cal grinned, rubbing his finger through the condensation on his bottle. “Careful, Wonder, you’ll give me some inflated expectations of my own.”
Wonder pinched the bridge of his nose. “One question, Idaho. How many cookies have arrived at Rankin’s Animal Hospital over the past couple of weeks?”
“Cookies?” Cal paused to think. “Well, somebody brought in some peanut butter cookies for the staff on Tuesday. And some brownies a couple of days later.” He shrugged. “People get all sentimental about their pets. They bring in thank-you gifts. It happens at all animal hospitals.”
Wonder rolled his bottle between his fingers. “So patients give you cookies all the time?”
“Well, not just me. They bring them to everybody at the clinic. We put them out on the counter.” Come to think of it, one of the clinic assistants had made a couple of cracks lately about the number of cookies they’d had to get rid of.
Wonder shook his head. “Lordy, Idaho, I don’t know whether that statement is an example of innocence or advanced idiocy.”
Cal sighed, turning back to look around the room again, and stopped cold. Standing at the other end of the bar was Botticelli’s Venus.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
Venus is the book that started it all! Eight books and several awards later, Konigsburg, Texas, is still going strong. While each book stands alone, several characters make repeated appearances, none more so than Cal and Docia, my very first Konigsburg romance. Not only will you get to know this starstruck pair, you’ll also meet their friends and relations, several of whom have their own romances in store: Docia’s best friend Janie, Cal’s best friend Wonder Dentist, Docia’s Daddy and Mama, and Cal’s three brothers, soon to move to Konigsburg, too. And you’ll get to spend time in my favorite small Texas Hill Country town: Konigsburg, Texas. Come for the romance, stay for the friends and future visits you’ll make. It’s Konigsburg. Anything can happen!
Giveaway –
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Author Biography:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, the Carly Crown Jewel of Books from the Mid-America Romance Authors, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
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